Bookkeeping machine



Sept. 26, 1961 J. M. NESSEL BOOKKEEPING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 7, 1958 Sept. 26, 1961 J. M. NESSEL BOOKKEEPING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 7, 1958 3,001,470 BOOKKEEPING MACHINE Jiri M. Nessel, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Clary Corporation, San Gabriel, Calift, a corporation of California Filed Mar. 7, 1958, Ser. No. 719,900

3 Claims. (Cl. 10196) This invention relates to bookkeeping and the like machines incorporating a laterally shiftable carriage of the front feed type.

In such machines, a work sheet, such as a statement form, ledger or the like, usually of relatively stifi paper, is fed into proper printing position in front of a printing platen. Normally, this is accomplished by manually slipping the paper along a guide-way until the desired print line is located at a printing station where the line of print is to occur. Suitable means is then actuated to hold the paper in position during the printing operation.

Since the work sheet is normally relatively stiff and since the guide-way for guiding the paper past the platen must, of necessity, permit free and easy movement of the paper, trouble has previously been encountered in properly holding the work sheet in intimate contact with the surface of the platen at the printing point, or in intimate contact with a journal or second sheet also held against the surface of the platen. If the work sheet is not held in intimate contact with the platen at the printing point, the paper, instead of being solidly supported, will give slightly upon being struck by the printing elements. As a consequence, the printed characters will tend to be lighter than normal and will often become smudged in appear- ..ance due to movement of the paper as it is struck.

It therefore becomes aprincipal object of the present invention to provide means for intimately holding a front fed work sheet or the like in contact with the platen at the printing point during the printing operation while providing free entry or withdrawal at other times.

Another object is to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive front feed type paper carriage which will facilitate easy entry and withdrawal of the work sheet to be printed.

Another object is to prevent relative slipping movement of two superimposed sheets of paper as they are line fed over a printing platen.

The manner in which the above and other objects of the invention are accomplished will be readily understood on reference to the following specification when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a transverse sectional view through a part of a bookkeeping machine and a front feed type carriage embodying a preferred form of the present invention, and illustrating the carriage in open condition.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 1, but illustrating the carriage in closed condition and the machine in a condition occurring during printing.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1 illustrating a tabular stop bar removably attached to the carriage.

FIG. 4 is an end view of the carriage, illustrating the same in normal open condition.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the carriage.

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view illustrating the drive connections for the pressure rollers.

FIG. 7 is a sectional View illustrating the means for operating the printer control shaft.

The bookkeeping machine, parts of which are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is basically similar to the commercially available Clary adding machine which is disclosed in detail in the R. E. Boyden Patent No. 2,583,810, issued .onlanuary 29, 1952, and the E. P. Drake Patent No.

2,472,696, issued on June 7, 1949.

nited States Patent l Patented Sept. 26, 1961 Since the basic structure of the machine is disclosed in the above patents, only those portions which relate to the present invention are disclosed herein in detail. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular type of machine disclosed.

The bookkeeping machine includes a pair of spaced side frame plates, one of which is shown in part at 11, between which various machine shafts, etc., are supported. Included is a cyclically operable main shaft 12 which is driven one revolution during each cycle of the machine.

A printer control shaft 13 is provided and is supported for limited clockwise and counterclockwise movement during the printing phase of each machine cycle in order to effect printing.

The printing mechanism includes a plurality of type wheels 15, each having a plurality of type characters 16 spaced around the periphery thereof. Each of the type wheels is rotatably mounted on a type arm 17 which is loosely keyed on the shaft 13 and is urged clockwise by a tension spring 18. A gear 20 integral. with each type wheel meshes with an idler 21 also rotatably supported by the associated type arm. Normally, when the machine is at rest or is not in a printing phase, the shaft 13 is held in the position shown to maintain the various idlers 21 in mesh with gears 22, the latter being effective through idlers 21 to set the type wheels into different type registering positions.

Referring to FIG. 7, a bell crank 23 is keyed to the printer control shaft 13 and is urged clockwise by a relatively heavy spring 24 whereby to hold a roller 25 thereon against a compound cam follower lever 26. The latter is pivoted on a cross shaft 27 and is provided with a roller 28 held against the periphery of a printer control cam 30 keyed on the main shaft 12. During the printing phase of the machine cycle, the cam follower 26 is allowed to rock counterclockwise enabling the spring 24 to rock the shaft 13 clockwise to carry the type wheels 15 into printing contact with a printing ribbon 32 located in front of a work sheet 31 which, during the printing phase, is held in intimate contact with the periphery of a platen 33 rotatably carried by a carriage generally indicated at 34.

The carriage comprises side plates 35 and 36 attached by screws 37 to opposite ends of spaced guide-Ways 33 and 39 which are spot-welded to a curved carriage base plate 40 extending between the side plates. The guideways (and thereby the carriage) are supported for shifting movement laterally of the machine upon bearing balls 41 which, in turn, roll on guide-ways formed on a stationary carriage support member 42 attached as at 43 to the side frame plates 11 of the machine.

The platen 33 is rotatably mounted in bearings carried by the carriage side plate 35 and 36, and cooperates with a guide chute 44 formed of resilient sheet material. The latter is anchored on studs 45 and 63a attached to the carriage side plates and carries tabs 46 struck out from the chute 44 and between which are rotatably mounted pressure rollers 47. Pins 48 on the side plates hold the chute in position to resiliently press the rollers 27 against the periphery of the platen or against the surface of a journal sheet 50 which is back fed around the periphery of the platen.

Means are provided to maintain the journal sheet 50 in intimate contact with the major portion of the periphcry of the platen 33. For this purpose, pressure rollers 51 are rotatably mounted between pairs of bell cranks 52 which are rotatably supported on a rotatable shaft 53. The rollers are held in either their open positions (shown in FIG. 1) or their closed positions (shown in FIG. 2), wherein they engage the surface of the platen, or the paper 50 thereon, by a detent spring 54 suitably attached to each bell crank. Each spring is provided with spring detent fingers 55 either of which engages a detent bar 56, depending upon the setting of the bell cranks.

The detent bar 56 is pivoted at opposite ends of the carriage side plates 35 and 36 and is normally held in its position shown by a spring 1% extending between an arm 101 attached thereto and the side plate 36, whereby to maintainone of a series of pairs of locating fingers 102 in embracement with one of each pair of bell cranks 52 to locate the respective roller in proper position relative to the platen.

Means are provided for guiding the relatively stiff work sheet, i.e. 31, into printing position in front of the platen. A pair of paper guiding chutes, one of which is shown at 57, is provided for this purpose. Each chute is slideably mounted on a bar 58 and is clamped in any desired posi tion thereon by a thumb nut 59. The bar758 is attached at its ends as by screws 58a to the upper ends of arms (one being shown at 60) pivoted at 61 to a bracket 62, which is secured to the respective carriage side plate by screws, i.e. 63 and 63a. The chutes are urged toward their rearward closed positions (shown in FIG. 2) by tension springs 64 extending between the arms 60 and extensions of the pins 48, but are normally maintained in their open positions by latches (illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4), one of which is shown at 65. The latter are each pivoted on one of the screws 63. The latch is urged clockwise by a spring 66 to normally locate an ear 65a thereon under a foot 67 extending from the arm 60.

The carriage base plate 40 forms part of a paper guideway or chute for the work sheet 31 and iscoextensively hinged by a hinge pin 68 to a curved chute plate 69 which extends along the length of the carriage.

The chute plate 69 rests under the influence of gravity against a bail 71 pivotally supported on a stationary rod 72 and provided with lower extensions connected by links 73 to earn follower arms 74. The latter are pivotally mounted on frame pins '75 and are held by springs 76 against earns 77 keyed on the main shaft 12. Upper extensions of the cam follower arms 74 pivotally support the opposite ends of a printer dust cover 78. Springs 80 extending between the dust cover and the upper ends of arms '74 normally hold the dust cover in position over the type wheels 15.

When the machine is at rest between cycles, the springs 76 are effective to hold the bail 71 in its position shown in FIG. 1, permitting the chute plate 69 to assume a position wherein its upper edge 70 is spaced sufficiently from the platen to permit the work sheet 31 to be readily and freely slipped past the platen 33 and along the guide-way formed by the chute plate 6% and the base plate 40.

Paper feed rolls, one of which is shown at 82, are slideably keyed on the shaft 53 for the purpose of feeding the work sheet 31 in concert with the'journal sheet 50 when the carriage is closed. The latter rolls cooperate with pressure rollers 83 mounted on brackets 84 depending from the guide chutes 57.

After the work sheet 31 is slipped into proper position, the latches 65 are released to permit clockwise swinging of the paper guide chutes to their closed positions of FIG. 2. in so doing, the pressure rollers 83 force the work sheet 31 against the rollers 82 to insure a driving contact therewith. Such closing of the chutes also is effective to paritally wrap the work sheet around the surface of the platen adjacent the printing point or station wherein the type wheels strike. Thereafter, advancement of the platen will be effective to advance the work sheet 31 and journal sheet 56 as will be described later.

A leaf spring 119 is mounted on each chute 57 and is effective to move the bell cranks 52 and rollers 51 to closed position in the event that they are inadvertently left in open positions, when the chutes are closed, and thereafter maintain the rollers 51 in resilient contact with the sheet 50.

In order to prevent relative slipping movement between the work sheet 31 and the journal sheet 50 during rotation of the platen 33 to simultaneously advance both sheets from one printing line to another, the platen and rolls 82 are geared together. For this purpose, gears 85 and 86 (FIG. 4) are suitably attached to the platen shaft 85a and shaft 53, respectively, and are entrained with each other through an idler 87 rotatably mounted on a frame pin 38 extending from the carriage side plate 36, thus causing the platen and shaft 53 to rotate in the same direction.

Also, as seen in FIG. 6, a gear 105 fastened to the shaft 53 meshes with a gear 106 when the chutes are closed. The gear 106 is attached to a support shaft 83a on which the rollers 83 are slideably splined whereby to drive the rollers 83 to insure positive advancement of the work sheet 31 in synchronism with the journal sheet 5% when the platen is advanced. Likewise, a gear 107, fastened to the platen shaft meshes (when the rollers 51 are closed) with a gear 1% attached to a support shaft 51a on which the rollers 51 are slideably splined.

After a machine cycle has commenced and before the type wheels strike the paper, the earns 77 actuate the cam followers 74 to rock the bail 71 and guide plate 69, thereby causing the upper edge 70 of the latter to press the paper against the surface of the platen directly below the printing point. Also, the rear edge 78a of the dust cover 78 is concurrently moved to press the paper directly above the printing point into contact with the surface of the platen, if it is not already so positioned by the chutes. As a result, the paper is held in intimate contact with the platen throughout the area to be printed.

After the printing operation, i.e. after the type wheels have struck the paper and have returned to their normal positions, the earns 77 cause the dust cover and guide plate 69 to recede from the platen to again form an open guideway, permitting the sheet 31 to be readily withdrawn and 'a new sheet inserted.

Means are provided to control movement of the carriage from one columnar position to the next. A suitable spring (not shown) is attached between the machine frame and the carriage to urge the carriage to the left, when viewed from the front of the machine. Such movement is limited by a tab bar 9% (FIG. 3) removably attached to a depending portion of the base plate 40. Tab stops 91 are formed along the tab bar in positions wherein it is desired to print columns of work. The tab stops are arranged to limit against the rearward extending portion of a bell crank 92 fulcrummed at 93 on one of the machine side frame plates 11 and entrained through suitable linkage with a tab key (not shown) located the keyboard of the machine.

When inserting a new journal sheet 50, the rollers 51 are first moved to their open positions of FIG. 1 to facilitate feeding and aligning of such sheet into its initial position. During this operation, the paper guide chutes 57 and their rollers 83 are also preferably held in open positions in readiness to receive a new work sheet and to allow greater access to the journal sheet. Thereafter, the rollers 51 are closed and remain so, thereby holding the journal sheet in place on the platen so that it may be properly line spaced as anincident to printing on the different work sheets. Following a printing operation on each work sheet, the guide chutes are opened to facilitate entry of a successive work sheet, but such operation does not disturb the journal sheet since it is held in position by the now closed rollers 51.

Although I have described my invention in detail in its preferred embodiment and have therefore used certain specific terms and languages herein, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is illustrative rather than restrictive and that certain changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described the invention, whatI desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine of the class described having a platen and means for guiding a record medium past said platen; the combination comprising a printer including printing elements movable toward and away from said platen; a cover for said printer, means for moving said cover from one position to a second position preparatory to movement of said printer elements toward said platen, and means on said cover eflFective upon movement of said cover to said second position to press said record medium against said platen, said cover extending over said printing elements in both of said positions of said cover and during said movement of said printing elements.

2. In a machine of the class described having a platen and means for guiding a record medium past said platen, the combination of a printer including printing elements movable toward and away from said platen; a cover for said printer, means normally maintaining said cover spaced from said platen to provide an opening for passage of said record medium past said printer, and means operable in advance of movement of said printing elements toward said platen for moving said cover toward said platen whereby to press said record medium against said platen, said cover extending over said printing elements during said movement of said printing elements and said cover.

3. In a machine of the class described having a platen and means for guiding a record medium past said platen, the combination of a printer including printing elements movable toward and away from said platen; a cover for said printer, said cover having an edge extending parallel to the length of said platen, means normally maintaining said cover spaced from said platen whereby to provide a record medium receiving passage intermediate said platen and said edge, and means for moving said cover toward said platen whereby to cause said edge to press said record medium against said platen, said cover extending over said printing elements during said movement of said printing elements and said cover.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,326,291 Dodge et al. Aug. 10, 1943 2,492,263 Boyden Dec. 27, 1949 2,530,156 Eagan Nov. 14, 1950 2,536,525 Anderson Jan. 2, 1951 2,598,939 Rainey June 3, 1952 

